Vijaykanth to launch political party Wednesday

Chennai, Sep 12 (IANS) Popular Tamil film star Vijaykanth, also known as Captain, is all set to launch his own political party on Wednesday at Madurai.

The 51-year-old Vijaykanth, who is president of the South Indian Film Artistes Association, has not yet disclosed the name of the political outfit he plans to set up.

He is reported to have personally invited AIADMK supremo and Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi for the launch. A marquee, on a 76-acre ground, and expected to hold about 200,000 people has been readied for the event.

Vijaykanth, a veteran of 125 films, has repeatedly asserted he will not align with either the DMK or the AIADMK.

According to a poll by a popular magazine, Vijaykanth will get less than 10 percent vote share if he contests the assembly elections due in the state in May 2006.

Another magazine speculated on the possibility of the Captain being given a few seats by Jayalalitha.

The star, undaunted by these predictions, had been planning his outfit launch for quite a few months.

Unlike superstar Rajnikant, he has so far never campaigned for any political party.

He said he draws "inspiration from M.G. Ramachandran and N.T. Rama Rao (both film stars who became chief ministers)," to convert his fan clubs into a political party.

He has even created a volunteer force trained by ex-servicemen.

Vijaykanth recently told his fans his party's mantra was "Take pride in saying that you are a Tamil, and we will say only what we will do".

On July 10, at a major gathering of his followers in Coimbatore, the matinee idol said his fans would have to quit all other political parties to be members of his outfit. They will have to leave behind their caste-based affiliations also, he said.

"My objective is to make this state bid adieu to politics that has evolved around money power. I have done my legwork and homework well," he claimed.

His new film going to be released during Diwali (Nov 1) "Swadeshi" "will convey a lot of messages relevant to society...but will not be a launch vehicle", he said.

"I produced it. I did not want producers to feel that I am using their money for my political ends," the Captain said.

The man who began his film career in the late 1970s became famous with his film "Captain Prabhakaran" and is still known in the industry as Captain.

Vijaykanth has been awarded the Tamil Nadu government's Kalaimamani Award, the central government's Best Citizen of India award and several film awards. He has also been given the Best Tamil Citizen award in Houston, US.

Hailed as 'Puratchi Kalaignar' (revolutionary artiste), Vijaykanth last year led a tour of south Indian artistes, including matinee idols Kamal Haasan and Rajnikanth to Singapore and Malaysia. The collections were used to clear the debts of the artistes' association.